Native Koro-Speaker Khandu Degio on the Tradition of Building Bamboo 'Spirit Houses'

Koro is an endangered Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Arunachal Pradesh, India, with an estimated six to eight hundred speakers. Khandu Degio, a Koro speaker, describes two varieties of “spirit houses,” sukong-grng and mloyn-fojo, delicate bamboo structures made during rice harvest once or twice a year. The sukong-grng is created to placate and subdue evil, while the mloyn-fojo is created to worship the deity and ensure prosperity.